Pundit Jamie O'Hara says it is time to stop "criticising" Jesse Lingard for his decision to join Nottingham Forest on a free transfer this summer.
The England international agreed to a one-year contract after becoming a free agent following the expiration of his Manchester United contract. While some reports stated he could earn around £120,000 a week, the 29-year-old is reportedly earning a basic £80,000-per-week plus add-ons.
O'Hara believes it is fair for Lingard to receive a high wage after Forest did not had to pay a transfer fee to land him. "I think they need to get off his back, like come on, give the guy a chance," O'Hara said on talkSPORT.
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"I know he's gone there and he's earning a few quid and they've put money into it. But give him a break. They're criticising a player because he's earning a lot of money, but at the end of the day, the man was on a free transfer. Nottingham Forest would have paid £9million to get him.
"If Man United said, he's got a year left on his contract but you can have him for £5m, we're going to pay him £4m in wages, Forest would have done it. He was on a free, so he can demand the wages.
"You can't then have a go at the manager or if he has a couple of bad games, 'oh he's on £300,000 grand a week, we're paying out this money for him and he's not performing', well you would have paid £9m to get him in and you wouldn't have moaned if he was on £30,000 grand a week but you paid £9m for him."
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